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No Gardasil vaccine? No citizenship, says U.S.

Teen facing deportation for refusing unneeded meds for STD

The controversial medication Gardasil created and marketed by Merck & Co. to battle a sexually transmitted disease is causing problems for a Florida teenager: It could cost her U.S. citizenship.

Simone Davis, born in 1992 in Britain, was abandoned by her parents and adopted at age 3 by Jean Davis, her paternal grandmother, who then married and moved to Florida, ABC News reported.

However, her adoption in Britain wasn’t recognized in the U.S., the report said, so the process was begun again in the U.S. The 17-year-old was on track for citizenship, attendance at Pensacola Christian College and a career as a teacher, until she ran into Gardasil.

The drug was added to the list of vaccinations required for female immigrants in 2008, but the teen has declined it. For one thing, it’s purpose is to protect against the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus only. Simone has taken a virginity pledge and doesn’t see she why she should be forced to take it.

“I am only 17 years old and planning to go to college and not have sex anytime soon,” she told ABC News. “There is no chance of getting cervical cancer [though to result from the papillomavirus), so there’s no point in getting the shot.”

The teen sought a waiver on religious grounds, ABC reported, and the government turned her down.

More than a dozen states are considering requiring the vaccinations, but none has so far.

“Given all the questions about Gardasil, the best public health policy would be to re-evaluate its safety and to prohibit its distribution to minors. In the least, governments should rethink any efforts to mandate or promote this vaccine for children,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

The document reveals the case of an 18-year-old woman who received the Gardasil vaccine, was found unconscious that evening and died. Another woman, age 19, got the drug and the next morning was found dead in her bed.

In 2007 alone, Merck’s aggressive lobbying campaign and contributions to the Women in Government organization for women state legislators resulted in proposals in at least 39 states to institutionalize such vaccinations.

“I am most definitely surprised [by the immigration requirement], and I would love to know how it ever became policy,” Dr. Jacques Moritz, director of gynecology at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in New York City, told ABC. “I wonder if the drug company could have had any influence.”

A company official told the network it wasn’t involved in making the vaccination required.